TLDR
- Spot gold fell 0.6% Friday to $4,101.11 an ounce, on track for a 1.8% weekly loss
- President Trump declared the Iran ceasefire over and ordered further military strikes
- Rising oil prices are stoking inflation fears, raising bets on a Fed rate hike in 2026
- Higher interest rates hurt gold by increasing the cost of holding the non-yielding metal
- Silver dropped over 4% this week; platinum held up better with a 0.3% weekly decline
Gold prices slipped on Friday and are set to close the week in the red, weighed down by renewed U.S.-Iran military tensions and growing fears about interest rates.
Spot gold fell 0.6% to $4,101.11 an ounce. Gold futures dropped 0.8% to $4,108.90. For the week, spot gold was down about 1.8%.
Silver and platinum were also under pressure. Spot silver slid 0.7% on Friday and was down more than 4% for the week. Platinum edged 0.1% lower on Friday but posted a smaller weekly loss of just 0.3%.
U.S.-Iran Tensions Rattle Markets
The sell-off in gold was triggered largely by escalating conflict in the Middle East. President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire with Iran was over and ordered fresh military strikes. Iran responded with retaliatory action.
🚨UPDATE: U.S. LAUNCHES SECOND STRIKE WAVE ON IRAN
The U.S. carried out a second round of strikes against Iran in 24 hours, hitting around 90 targets after Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and escalated strikes across the region.
Iran also fired missiles and drones… pic.twitter.com/iLnoBgHp3a
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 9, 2026
A report from Axios said regional mediators were trying to salvage a recent U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. Despite that, the outlook for peace in the region remained uncertain.
The renewed conflict sent oil prices surging. That raised concerns about energy-driven inflation returning at a time when the Federal Reserve is already watching prices closely.
Markets raised their bets on a Fed rate hike in 2026 this week, according to CME Fedwatch data.
Rate Fears Weigh on Gold’s Haven Appeal
Higher interest rates are bad news for gold. The metal pays no yield, so when rates rise, investors can earn more from bonds and other debt instruments instead. That makes gold less attractive.
Analysts at ANZ noted that gold found some support on expectations that the Middle East conflict would not escalate further. But they said concerns about sticky inflation and the Fed keeping rates higher for longer kept pressure on prices.
Gold has largely underperformed as a safe haven since the U.S.-Iran conflict began. Rate anxiety has overshadowed demand for the metal as a store of value during geopolitical stress.
The dollar steadied this week after last week’s losses. A stronger dollar also tends to weigh on gold, which is priced in U.S. currency.
Platinum held up better than gold and silver this week. Its 0.3% weekly decline was smaller than the losses seen across other precious metals.
Traders will continue watching for any developments in the Middle East and any shifts in Fed communication that could move rate expectations in the weeks ahead.
At the time of writing, spot gold was trading at $4,102.64, down $21.18 on the day.
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